


Between the Pages

by viiixel



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: AkuSai, Gen, Harpy Saix, Kitsune Axel, Witch Zexion, based on fan designs, in which Zexion washes up on Destiny Islands and decides to share his adventures, mythology AU, young! kairi, young! riku, young! sora
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-06
Updated: 2017-11-06
Packaged: 2019-01-30 06:49:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,077
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12648345
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/viiixel/pseuds/viiixel
Summary: Zexion has been what feels like everywhere. He's met many different creatures, been to many different places, gathered more knowledge for him to jot down in his spell book. His book is bursting with these adventures and through the pestering of three kids he decides to finally share some them.





	1. Prologue | Washed Up

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is totally based on @xemnenas Monster Organization XIII charm designs!  
> The designs (and where to buy the charms!!) can be found here: https://twitter.com/xemnenas/status/919987453611479040
> 
> I really hope you enjoy and apologies for any errors! (Please feel free to comment any you see so I can correct them, thank you!)  
> Comments are appreciated in general!!

“Hey mister…”

The voice sounded far off amidst the noise of waves crashing and wind fitting itself between the wooden slats of the hut Zexion had curled up in when he drifted his way onto the island late the previous night. He huffed slightly and drew his cloak tighter around himself, the leather of his bag cool against his face as he curled up tighter to avoid whatever was attempting to get his attention. It could wait, he sleepily decided as he set up a very lazy ward around himself.

Or, the ‘it’ in question would poke at his ward with a stick until it wore a hole through it to poke at his backside repeatedly. Zexion squeezed his eyes shut and gritted his teeth before throwing off his cloak and sitting up to glare at whatever was disturbing his sleep. He was met with two bright and rapidly blinking blue eyes. A child. Probably human.

“Hey mister, how come you’re sleeping in our tree house?” There was no fear in the child’s voice, instead it was interwoven with an innocent curiosity that made Zexion relax considerably. At the ‘we,’ Zexion looked past the young boy with messy brown hair to see another boy close to him with a scowl on his face. He was holding onto the blue eyed boy’s trousers as though to tug him back if there were danger and he had his other arm extended back to stay yet another child. Zexion could only see the head of the small redhead who was presumably on the ladder that connected the hut to whatever platform it was on. Both the redhead and the blue eyed boy were looking at him with open wonder while the silver haired boy regarded the witch with an apprehension that Zexion thought was fitting.

“I needed to sleep.” Zexion gave a half shrug with his response, pulling his satchel closer to him while his other hand felt for the book at his side to make sure it was still there. Reassured that nothing of his was missing, Zexion cleared his throat and half turned to grab his hat and put it on his head. “Well, I suppose I’ll be off.” He moved to stand, lightly dusting himself off.

“Wait!” He felt a tug at his cloak and looked down to see the blue eyed boy grasping it. “Who are you? Where did you come from? Where’s your boat? Why were you sleep—” Zexion had up a hand at the barrage of questions, before looking at the children. The redhead, a young girl, had climbed into the hut and was sitting beside the silver haired boy. All three of them looked at him expectantly and Zexion took a second to think before settling himself down on the floor of the hut again. He was in no real hurry to leave this place and it had been a while since he rested so he figured he could entertain these kids for a little while.

“My name is Zexion.” Zexion hummed lightly. “I come from someplace far away and that is not very well known.” The children had moved to mimic Zexion’s crossed leg position and seemed to lean forward with each piece of information he offered them. “My boat is out there… somewhere.” He paused, ignoring the soft snickers from the silver haired boy. “I imagine it is bobbing around here somewhere.” The snickers weren’t soft anymore and Zexion frowned slightly at the thought of the boy laughing at him and having to find the boat he had borrowed. “As to why I was sleeping here, well, it is dry is it not?” Zexion smirked and leaned back into the corner he had tucked himself into.

“Is it my turn to ask questions?” The children looked to each other and Zexion continued on. “What are your names? Where am I?” The blue eyed boy leaned forward but it was the silver haired boy who spoke. “I’m Riku, this is Sora,” Riku plopped his hand on Sora’s head, “and this is Kairi.” Riku repeated the same motion to Kairi and they nodded to confirm Riku’s words. Riku dropped his hands from their heads before gesturing towards the open door of the hut. The bright white sand looked as inviting as the waves caressing it and Zexion found himself eager to explore this place. “This is our island, we share it with our friends from the mainland. We decided to call it Destiny Islands.” Riku looked proud as he said the name and Zexion figured that he had a large part in that decision.

“Interesting.” Zexion stated as he unlatched the book at his side to pull it onto his lap. He dug in his bag and while ignoring the curious stares from the children, began to make note of the information he had been presented about where he was. Once finished, he looked up to see Sora had scooted closer to look at his book. “What’s in there?” He asked, looking up at Zexion. Zexion half closed the book and angled it away, nosy kid, before giving a shrug. “A little bit of everything. My spells, details about where I’ve been, and who I’ve encountered—”

“Spells?” Kairi moved closer to him too and Zexion decided that backing himself into the corner, while comfortable, was not the best idea.

“Yes, spells.” He said with a slightly annoyed tone. “Witches are not much without their spells.”

Silence filled the hut and Zexion sighed as the children eyed him expectantly. He looked down to the book in his lap and flipped through it to the page he wanted. Zexion refreshed his memory before quickly muttering the spell and making a quick gesture with his left hand. A few seconds ticked by and the kids began to shift as disbelief crept in but was quickly dashed when the hut lit up by the brightly colored orbs Zexion had casted.

“Whoa!” Kairi and Sora exclaimed in unison while Riku reached out to lightly poke through the orb. “You really are a witch!” Sora looked back to Zexion, a wide smile on his face. “Why would I ever lie about that?” Zexion scoffed. “Why would anyone ever tell anyone that?” Riku countered and Zexion supposed he had a point that not many people go around claiming they were witches.

“Mister Zexion?” Kairi’s voice broke through the annoyance brought on by Riku and Zexion looked to see her looking at him with that look of wonder she had earlier. “You said your book has things about where you’ve been? Places and people outside of the islands here?” The two boys looked to Kairi and something seemed to click between them that Zexion wasn’t able to fully read. “Of course.” “Could you tell us about them?” Zexion blinked slowly before glancing down at his book. His adventures, those he had met on them, had largely been kept within the pages of the book. He was not sure that every encounter should ever leave the book but he supposed that it would not hurt to share some of his journey with these kids. After all, he was gathering so much information that he should share some of it before his book bursts.

Zexion looked at the children gathered around him and gave a nod as he firmly stated, “Very well, let’s see what I have to share with you.”


	2. The Harpy and the Fox Spirit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After being convinced to share some of his adventures, Zexion recounts one of the stories he had heard while visiting a village by a forest where a fox spirit and his harpy companion frequented.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic is totally based on @xemnenas Monster Organization XIII charm designs!  
> The designs (and where to buy the charms!!) can be found here: https://twitter.com/xemnenas/status/919987453611479040
> 
> I really hope you enjoy and apologies for any errors! (Please feel free to comment any you see so I can correct them, thank you!)  
> Comments are super appreciated in general!!

Zexion flipped through his book trying to find a good story for the three children sitting before him. A meticulous drawing of some feathers caught his eye and he was immediately reminded of why he had drawn those. He flipped the page and saw his tight handwriting detailing a story fit for the children. Zexion cleared his throat and began to try and weave a story from his notes.

“There was a large forest with many villages at the edges of it that was home to a mischievous fox spirit.  Many of those who relied on the forest knew not to venture in too deep in case they ran across the spirit’s path for it was well known for its pleasure in playing with fire.” Zexion paused, the memories flooding back to him of his talks with the people in that village and his own venture into the forest. “The villagers did not dislike or like the spirit, instead they respected it for its power and were grateful for the protection it gave to a huge source of supplies for them. One year in the fall, harsh winds began to plague the village. The villagers noticed that the winds seemed focused in the forest and it soon became a known event for the winds to tear through it each year.”

* * *

 The spirit bounded into the clearing and skidded to a stop, his eight tails flicking back and forth as he looked around. It was empty, but the leaves on the trees were swaying which told him that it wouldn’t be very long now. He couldn’t contain his excitement and did his best to keep the flames that were always quick to rise in check since he would hate to have their clearing burnt. He attempted to sit there patiently, not moving a muscle as the wind began to pick up, but as soon as he saw the faint speck through the trees he lost any ability to sit there and wait patiently. Yips and barks burst out of him as he began to run in circles around the clearing, his form melting and reforming into a flurry of shapes as his excitement built with each moment he got closer. His fox form ran straight into a cluster of mushrooms moving around the clearing before fluidly turning into a large tree with bright red leaves before shifting back into his canine form as he continued his excited laps. The gusts tore through the trees and he swiftly turned into a boulder to avoid being blown away with the rest of the debris.

“I see you’re as hard headed as ever, spirit.” At the sound of his voice, carefully held in check except for the small amount of warmth he allowed to let the spirit know he was being humorous, the spirit released his form to look at his long-awaited guest. Eight tails flicked in irritation at the remark, causing the harpy to lift a wing to his mouth to cover his laughter. The spirit transformed yet again into his two-legged form. Confidence and a hint of smugness was written across his face, but the effect was marred by the fluffy tail and ears that showed the harpy the spirit’s excitement that kept him from perfecting the form.

“I have a name now,” the spirit immediately said as he strode over to the harpy, his hands resting on his own hips. It was clear to the harpy that the spirit had been waiting for his visit to tell him as soon as he could. “I want you to call me by it, Isa.”

Isa raised an eyebrow at the news. The two of them met twenty five years ago, when Isa had decided to take another flight path when he traveled back to his home during the harvest season. He supposed Fate had a plan for him when he had flown over the dense forest and saw a massive tree rise above the others then suddenly disappear. Of course, it had been the shiny pool of water that the tree had melted into that had caught his attention and he decided to investigate. (What could he say, he was weak to shiny things). To his great surprise, once he had landed the pool of water shifted into something very red and furry and lunged at him. The spirit swore he hadn’t been trying to actually hurt him later on, rather that he was interested in seeing the man who dared to find a way to fly, but Isa had not been able to get away and in the scuffle he fell back on one of his wings.

He had to spend the entire harvest season in that forest in the care of the spirit, who he had to admit took great care of him, until the first week of winter. He had not been pleased by the situation and had not spoken a single word to the spirit for most of the season. It wasn’t until his wing was mostly healed and he had been testing it by racing the spirit who had taken the form of a bird that he had begun to feel the essence of the spirit that the forest contained. It made him curious about the creature who had cared for him so carefully (and talked his ear off in a language who could not quite grasp) and shown him but a few of the wonders he had hidden.

So the next year Isa took the same path to that forest to spend yet another harvest with him. And then again took that path the next twenty-four harvests. They eventually overcame the barrier of language and were able to learn about each other. Isa learned each path within the forest and seen a dizzying amount of forms the spirit could take. Each time he returned, there was something new for each of them to learn about each other and he found himself growing comfortable beneath the canopy of leaves with his companion. During the rest of the year, while he brought his winds to lands that held no real meaning to him, his mind was near constantly back in the forest with the spirit who did his all to unlock the mystery of if Isa could laugh and shared his home so openly with him.

In all that time though, the spirit had never given him a name to refer to him by. Isa had watch the spirit learn new tricks, even grow another tail which even without the spirit telling him Isa knew was an important event, but had only been able to refer to him as ‘spirit’. The significance of him deciding on a name that would be a claim to the spirit was not lost on Isa.

“Then what shall I call you?” Isa asked, knowing that the spirit wanted Isa to ask for his name.

“Lea. My name is Lea. Don’t you forget it.” Lea leaned in and lightly poked Isa’s chest. Isa looked down at his hand before extending his wings out to partially enclose the two of them.  

“How could I ever forget?” Isa murmured lowly, his eyes catching the sunlight that passed through the windswept leaves. Lea’s smug grin faltered slightly into something more sincere before falling away completely to reveal a tender smile. A light breeze played through Lea’s hair and Isa almost felt jealous of it. Lea raised his hands to lightly touch at the soft down inside Isa’s wings that provided him hours of entertainment previous summers before clearing his throat. “I figured if I had a name for you to remember you’ll always come back to see me.”

“Lea,” Isa saw the way his expression brightened at the sound of the name he had chosen and decided he would use it as often as he could. “Have you not been keeping track of how many years I’ve come back to you? Even after you tried to kill me?” He knew that would get a response and Isa laughed fully at the sputtering defense Lea was attempting to give himself. “I count each turn of the sun until I get to see you again, my Lea.”

The name stood between them, filled with a magic all its own, before they leaned in to close the distance between them. Their building affection had not been a secret as they grew closer through the years. The separation had kept them from acting upon for neither of them knew if there would be a next season or if the winds would drag Isa away from his awaiting spirit. Lea’s name settled somewhere deep in Isa’s chest, Isa could feel it making a home there as he and the spirit lost themselves in exploring this new experience, linking him to the spirit so that no matter how hard the wind tugged and called to him he would always be able to find his way back to him. Wind swirled around them and caught the fire at Lea’s feet, fueling and spreading it until the two finally noticed it and hurriedly broke it apart to put it out. It wouldn’t do at all to have their clearing, and the whole forest burnt up.

* * *

“Even now, each harvest season a wild wind tears through the village until it settles in the forest. The villagers know not to enter the forest during that time so that the harpy and the fox spirit can enjoy their time together.” Zexion looked up at the kids and nearly chuckled at the awestruck expression on their faces. That didn’t last long though as Riku quickly asked him, “But how do you know all that?” Instantly the fox spirit, Lea’s, face popped into his mind and he sighed. “Well, I met Lea. He told me the story himself, actually he would not shut up about Isa and I barely got out of there without being talked to death.” He did manage to snag some of Lea’s foxfire though which has proven to be an invaluable item.

“All right then, so I told you something I have seen, can I go back to sleep now?” The sound of his book shutting resounded through the hut and the children nodded and scuttled back out of the hut. Zexion sighed in relief until he saw Sora’s head pop up back up from where he had descended on the ladder. He wasted no time in blurting out his question. “Mister Zexion, are you going to stay here a while?”

Zexion and Sora looked at each other, the sounds of the other kids calling to Sora accompanied the cries of gulls flying overhead. “I plan to stay a little while, why do you ask?”

“Well,” the young boy gave Zexion a bright smile, his blue eyes wide with the wonder the story had provided him. “I was hoping you could tell us some more about where you’ve been.”

“We’ll see,” Zexion said as he stretched out on the floor of the hut. “For now, let me sleep.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Twitter: @viiixel (come yell with me!)
> 
> Kudos and comments are very appreciated, especially if you read to the end and see this! Writing fanfic is very thankless at times so any support shown, especially comments, is very motivating. So please consider interacting with fanfic writers if you enjoy their work!

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to hit me up on twitter: [@viiixel](https://twitter.com/viiixel)
> 
> Kudos and comments are very appreciated, especially if you read to the end and see this! Writing fanfic is often thankless at times so any support shown, especially comments, is very motivating. So please consider interacting with fanfic writers if you enjoy their work!


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